Friday, December 8, 2017

Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings by Nell Iris – Stocking Stuffers


Christmas is coming, and young couple Casey and Ellis are very much in love. Unfortunately, they’re also the definition of dirt poor, and they don’t have the money for nonessentials like decorations. Or a turkey. Or gifts. Between the recent death of Casey’s beloved momma and Ellis’s estrangement from his family, all they have is each other.

When Ellis finds the saddest-looking Christmas tree south of the Mason-Dixon Line thrown away outside his workplace and brings it home to Casey, things look up. Life is still a struggle, but wealth isn’t always measured in money, and what seems worthless to others is often invaluable to the people who love it.

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Day 8
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela☆☆☆☆☆
I absolutely adored this holiday romance. Casey and Ellis are so completely in love with one another and make such a cute couple, that I had zero chance of not falling in love with them. At first glance, Casey’s happy-go-lucky attitude and lighthearted nature (despite their somewhat depressing circumstances) seem to suggest that he was the more submissive half of the couple – at least to me it did. But when they hit the bedroom, Casey is the one to take charge and that makes the sexy times just that… sexy. Despite its short length, Iris manages to include just the right amount of strife and conflict to keep the story from giving readers a toothache, while at the same time uses the issues to illustrate why Casey and Ellis are meant for each other. And their Christmas presents to one another were perfect!

I will confess that the emphasis on Ellis and Casey’s dismal finances coupled with the repeated admiration of Casey’s long, beautiful hair had me expecting a M/M take on O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi. While this really wouldn’t have bothered me as I’ve always loved that story, Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings is not a retelling of the classic. Nope, Ellis and Casey’s story is all their own and one I enjoyed so much that I actually read it twice. In fact, my enjoyment was such that I’ve actually gotten my hands on another of the author’s Christmas novellas and cannot wait to dive in. Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings has secured a spot on my yearly holiday reading list.



NELL IRIS is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bona fide bookworm (learning to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies room), loves music (and singing along, but let’s face it, she’s not Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (Make it so!) She loves words, poetry, wine, and Sudoku, and absolutely adores elephants!

Nell is a fortysomething bisexual Swedish woman married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, where she spends her days writing, surfing the internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love.

Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender, or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful place. She writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angsty, and wants to write diverse and unique characters.

Connect with Nell

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Blog  ~  Goodreads




Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Stocking Stuffers: Red Popcorn Strings and Gumball Rings by Nell Iris to read and review.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for this fantastic review and excuse me while I go and do my happy dance! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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